TORONTO -- A Toronto doctor who lost three patients to the coronavirus in 36 hours says he鈥檚 dismayed by holiday shoppers lining up at malls for discounts while hospitals surpass capacity thresholds amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an emotional interview on 麻豆影视 Channel, infectious disease specialist Dr. Abdu Sharkawy described the difference between life inside the COVID-19 ward and outside of it as 鈥渘ight and day.鈥
鈥淭he COVID ward is a place of desolation. It鈥檚 a place of quiet -- an eerie sense of quiet -- where there鈥檚 very little in the way of human contact and connection that patients would ordinarily have from their family and their loved ones. Because patients are in individual rooms, they鈥檙e isolated in the truest sense,鈥 he said Monday.
He鈥檚 seen patients die 鈥渧ery suddenly鈥 after spending a few days forming bonds with them. It has been 鈥渁bsolutely heartbreaking鈥 for him and members of his team at Toronto General Hospital, he said.
鈥淎nd then I see parking lots that are full outside of malls because people are trying to beat the Christmas holiday rush before a lockdown to get a good deal on an item. It鈥檚 really hard for me to reconcile that and understand that there are these two very incongruent realities,鈥 he said, adding that the virus isn鈥檛 an 鈥渁bstract phenomenon.鈥
鈥淭his is somebody鈥檚 family member that I鈥檓 seeing and I鈥檓 pronouncing as dead after I talked to them and spent some quality time with them a few days ago,鈥 he said, suggesting that that reality doesn鈥檛 appear to have sunk in for many Canadians. Sharkawy isn鈥檛 sure how else to make it click -- he and his colleagues have 鈥渞un out of dramatic phrases and alarm bells to ring,鈥 he said.
The numbers don鈥檛 seem to be enough either. Last week, Ontario surpassed a for the number of patients in the province鈥檚 intensive care units, which will make it more difficult to provide other care and perform scheduled surgeries. It鈥檚 likely that pressure won鈥檛 soon abate as the province and several others across Canada continue to break daily records for the number of newly recorded infections. Another fear is that the respiratory virus season isn鈥檛 even fully underway yet, said Sharkawy.
鈥淲e anticipate a lot more people being sick, coming from long-term care homes, coming from our own communities. They don鈥檛 need to die,鈥 he said.
On Monday, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador of the so-called 鈥淎tlantic bubble,鈥 which allowed residents of the four Atlantic provinces to travel freely between each jurisdiction. That type of swift action is what鈥檚 needed in other provinces, said Sharkawy.
鈥淭he virus is no different in Newfoundland than it is in Nanaimo or it is in Italy or Iowa or anywhere else,鈥 he said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 learn these lessons. Let鈥檚 try and be more proactive and be more sacrificial and patient and it will pay dividends for us.鈥
Correction:
Dr. Abdu Sharkawy is currently working in the COVID-19 ward at Toronto General Hospital. A previous version of this story misidentified the hospital.
